Meeting with the President of Sri Lanka yesterday, the Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) expressed serious concern about the grave human rights situation in Sri Lanka, including, renewed patterns of enforced disappearances and targeted killings of civilians, as well as shrinking space for civil society. .

After much diplomatic wrangling and months of stalling by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Khartoum has agreed to the deployment of a joint United Nations/African Union peacekeeping force in its western Darfur region. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Sudan’s acceptance “a milestone development” (Reuters), but the agreement was greeted with widespread skepticism

Last week's passage of a law outlawing domestic violence and establishing the rights of women when it comes to inheritance and the registration of customary marriages is an important step forward in improving the status of women -- particularly rural women -- and ensuring greater protection for women and girls against violence in the home and community across Sierra Leone.

The President's Text on Institution Building Dated 18 June 2007 (President's Text), adopted by consensus by the Human Rights Council on 18 June 2007, provides the necessary base for the Council to begin its full range of activity aimed at addressing human rights in all countries. Council members and observers must now begin the hard work that remains ahead to ensure that the Council actually realizes its full potential to be an effective United Nations human rights body.